Why There Won’t Be an ‘Awards Gala’ at the 2020 NYIOOC

It has been an expensive party paid for by 1,000 producers, but enjoyed by very few of them.

Yavuz Arkan accepted the Gold Award for Hermus Olive Oil at the 2018 NYIOOC
By Curtis Cord
Jan. 29, 2020 14:40 UTC
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Yavuz Arkan accepted the Gold Award for Hermus Olive Oil at the 2018 NYIOOC

Each year after the judg­ing is com­pleted at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, one of the best parts of my job has been to rec­og­nize, one by one, the ded­i­cated pro­duc­ers who man­aged to craft the year’s best olive oils.

Everyone likes a great party, but there are bet­ter ways to rec­og­nize every­one who pro­duced one of the world’s best olive oils — whether they can make it to New York or not.

So it might come as a sur­prise that, for the 8th edi­tion of the NYIOOC, I have decided to scrap what some have referred to as the Olive Oil Oscars.” It was a deci­sion, how­ever, based on the fun­da­men­tal mis­sion of the com­pe­ti­tion.

Participating in the NYIOOC is costly for pro­duc­ers, as is send­ing sam­ples from all parts of the world. Traveling to New York to accept a prize is even more so, which explains why less than ten per­cent of the pro­duc­ers who enter their brands in the com­pe­ti­tion have attended the gala.

As much as I have enjoyed the annual reunion in New York, I found that I was see­ing the same faces year after year.

It was an expen­sive party paid for by 1,000 pro­duc­ers but enjoyed by very few of them.

Instead, for 2020, we have been invest­ing in new ways to cel­e­brate and rec­og­nize every award win­ner and raise aware­ness of the com­pe­ti­tion results around the world.

This year, the results of the judg­ing will be revealed in real-time, allow­ing pro­duc­ers and the pub­lic to fol­low and share these remark­able achieve­ments as they unfold.

Olive Oil Times writ­ers will be fan­ning out in every region to report on win­ning pro­duc­ers in break­ing-news arti­cles opti­mized for shar­ing and syn­di­ca­tion.

We’re invest­ing in new fea­tures on the Best Olive Oils Index, includ­ing the new retail loca­tor that will help every­one find an award-win­ning oil nearby.

And we’re expand­ing the Best Olive Oils Marketplace to Canada and Europe to help pro­duc­ers and their dis­trib­u­tors get their high-qual­ity olive oils into even more of the kitchens where they deserve to be.

The NYIOOC team never stops devel­op­ing new ways to cel­e­brate and rec­og­nize award-win­ning pro­duc­ers. Sometimes that means let­ting go of the old ways.

Everyone likes a good party, but we want to thank every­one who pro­duced the year’s best olive oils — whether they can make it to New York or not.

This year, for NYIOOC 2020, we’re going to do just that.


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